Men vs. women: Now that's reality

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Thursday, February 13, 2003

Men vs. women: Now that's reality

By MELANIE McFARLAND
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC

Forget the world's present woes for a moment to consider the conflict that's been raging for millenniums: the one between the sexes. Mars' eternal struggle with Venus fuels entertainment at every level, from the self-help racket to beloved television, a medium that has capitalized on it since "I Love Lucy."

Men.

Women.

Can't live with em, so pit them against each other and watch the ratings climb.

NBC's popular "Fear Factor" creeps out co-ed panels of contestants each week, but to spice things up, MTV's reality alums split down gender lines in Jamaica for "The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Sexes," (Mondays, 10 p.m.). Result: More viewers have tuned in to the show than any of the previous series, says producer Jon Murray. The he vs. she angle works ratings wonders.

Or so CBS is hoping with "Survivor: The Amazon." The sixth edition divides the 16 castaways into camps of men and women, a move that makes Wednesday's 90-minute premiere at 8 on KIRO/7 particularly intriguing.

Playing the war between the sexes card now is a natural progression for both "Survivor" and MTV's "Challenge," explained Murray, whose company, Bunim/Murray Productions makes "Challenge" and other reality shows, such as the defunct "Love Cruise." "With reality, it's looking for something to extend the life of these things," he said. "Coming up with a new take on it. Certainly for us, the 'Love Cruise' thing reinforced for us the whole thing and the potential surrounding the battle of the sexes."

On Fox's "Love Cruise," a group of singles were put together on a hellish boat ride with the express goal of pairing up. Women and men split into camps of their own gender, and eventually turned on one another. The ratings may have been lackluster, but the backstabbing was delicious.

Then again, playing the his and her game with meager supplies in the middle of the jungle is a bit more dicey. "There was a bit of a concern as to, will it work?" said "Survivor" host Jeff Probst. "What if the men dominate? What if the women's team is whittled down to one? Then we'll have eight guys turning on each other."

Yes, what if the women fall down? From the perspective of a woman who seeks out fierce female protagonists on TV, watching this "Survivor" was as stressful as it was addictive. Team Jaburu's women aren't superheroes or steely fictional characters. They're real. They have flaws and fears. They have a swimsuit model, Jenna Morasca, whose plan to exploit her feminine wiles got tossed out like expired Dexatrim.

And they're embarrassingly bad at setting up camp.

Against the men of Tambaqui who, safely sequestered in another part of the jungle, openly brag about their physical advantage, the females look outclassed. "This is a forbidden place, it's pathetic," worries family man Roger Sexton in a patronizing aside.

His observation isn't as bad as 24-year-old Rob Cesternino's ego spillage, in which he predicts Tambaqui's dominance based on the testosterone advantage. "I don't think any of them had any idea they'd be doing this on estrogen alone over there in the camp of the 'Vagina Monologues.' " (We must note here that Cesternino is single, cites Bob Barker as his personal hero and still lives at home. Probably in his childhood bedroom. Thanks for the profile, CBS. com!)

But they may eat their words with their manioc rations. Demonstrations of the sexes' equal footing are proven every week on "Fear Factor." The recent all-female show notwithstanding, "Fear Factor" regularly has men and women compete on equal footing without giving either sex advantages or handicaps. "This may be un-PC to say, but men and women do think differently," producer Matt Kunitz said. "A lot of men come into this and they think they can muscle their way into these stunts. They're trained . . . to be aggressive.

"Women step back and they think about the stunt, and they don't just rely on pure muscle and brawn to get through it. And the women tend to do better in some of the stunts because of that."

Also telling, he said, was last season's finalists, of which there were 10 women to 12 men. "That's a pretty good ratio," Kunitz said.

In the "Survivor VI" premiere, it quickly becomes clear the game's motto of "outwit, outplay, outlast" will play out differently in the arena of gender dynamics. The men have strength and building skills on their side, the women, stamina. Day-to-day survival may be determined by the fittest in both camps, but those crucial immunity competitions favor wit and will as opposed to muscle.

"I just want to beat them to kind of, like, shut them up," Jenna fumes.

Channel surfing

Here's a phrase you thought would stay in the early '80s: We can't get enough of Michael Jackson. Anyone tickled to the hee-hee at the thought of "Dateline NBC's" airing of "Michael Jackson Unmasked" at 10 p.m. next Monday (KING/5) will positively moonwalk at the news that Fox intends to air "Michael Jackson, Take Two: The Interview They Wouldn't Show You," Feb. 20 on KCPQ/13. This is the baby dangler's two-hour rebuttal to 20/20's "Living With Michael Jackson," savored by 27.1 million viewers last week. In case you didn't see it, or you miss it already, the docuhorror will rerun three times this weekend on VH1.

P-I TV critic Melanie McFarland can be reached at 206-448-8015 or tvgal@seattlepi.com.

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